Niagara Falls and Terrapin Tower in Winter, New York

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Artist: Frederic Edwin Church (American, 1826–1900)
Medium: Oil and graphite on cardboard
Size: 29.3 × 44 cm (11 9/16 × 17 5/16 in.)
Museum: Smithsonian Institution
Rights: CC0 — no rights reserved

Landscape sketch showing a view of Terrapin Tower and the Horseshoe Falls portion of Niagara Falls from Goat Island, New York. In the foreground, the nearby snowy riverbank is shown with a wooden walkway with handrails that traverses a nearby rivulet to Terrapin Point, where Terrapin Tower stands on the very edge of Horseshoe Falls. An observation platform is visible at the top of the tower, which is covered in ice and snow.

From Terrapin Point, the Falls curve to the left through the middle distance and into the background, where the Canadian Bank of the Niagara River is visible--wooded and snow-covered. At center and right, a towering plume of mist rises from the base of the Falls and catches the pink light of the setting sun, which streams in from the west. Above, a largely overcast sky breaks up at right to reveal blue sky.